This one is a bit different than the other one I'm having, being that I'm only allowing brand new members who register after the time of this posting (you can also be an existing member who has never posted).

The intent of this exercise is to draw lurkers out of the shadows, and into the light of the tropical fruit discussion. I'd also like to encourage new members to join, who peruse the forum as a guest, without a registered account.

the rules are simple,

1) you will be required to post a 80-200 word essay, about the origins of your interest in tropical fruit, and why you are a good candidate to receive $25 store credit at my nursery, www.Plinias.com (aka, www.FlyingFoxFruits.com)

2) you will not be judged on proper grammar, or spelling, but please try your best to make the essay legible, and lucid. If English is not your first language, don't worry. Please try to express yourself to the best of your ability, we will understand if you make mistakes.

3) you will be judged by all of the existing members, who will vote, via the forum's polling system. I will post a poll, with each contestant's name as a votable item.

4) you must post your essay on this thread, and all submissions must be made on or before, Sunday, March 20th, 11:59 EST.

Instead of existing members who have never posted, can the rule be changed to existing members with less than 20 posts prior to the contest announcement? This will balance out the rule of the other contest and capture remaining members.

Hello Adam, I really like your idea of this interesting contest!I'd like to joyin this contest, so here is my story :

Plants play an important role in my entire life. Once I was a little boy my grandfather tought me how to take care of plants. He always started to germinate seeds he brought back from spain, his all time favourite is not a tropical fruit tree but it is one of the most beautiful plants I know, it is an old red blooming hibiscus. He put so much effort in this tree, I would say that he treats this plant like one of his children. And because of this, the interest in growing plants ewoke. At the age of 13 I found an unknown fancy looking fruit in one of the german supermarkets. It was a dragonfruit. While eating it, I started to ask myself if it was possible to sow those little black seeds. And it worked out very well. At this point I started to grow tropical fruit plants. Now, everytime I see a new fruit I have to give it a try and it is a must-do for me to germinate the seeds.As I mentioned the german supermarkets, I live in germany. So I have to deal with cold winters and the conditions are not the best ones. But I always try to put as much effort in my plants as my grandfather does. And I have to say that my effort is working out well, my plants are thankful and happy and this makes me happy as well.So this is why I think I'm a good candidate, I may not have the best growing conditions or the highest yield on my plants, but growing plants is my passion and everything I do is doing it with effort and love. And I have to thank my grandfather for ewaking my interest in plants.

Hello Adam, I really like your idea of this interesting contest!I'd like to joyin this contest, so here is my story :

Plants play an important role in my entire life. Once I was a little boy my grandfather tought me how to take care of plants. He always started to germinate seeds he brought back from spain, his all time favourite is not a tropical fruit tree but it is one of the most beautiful plants I know, it is an old red blooming hibiscus. He put so much effort in this tree, I would say that he treats this plant like one of his children. And because of this, the interest in growing plants ewoke. At the age of 13 I found an unknown fancy looking fruit in one of the german supermarkets. It was a dragonfruit. While eating it, I started to ask myself if it was possible to sow those little black seeds. And it worked out very well. At this point I started to grow tropical fruit plants. Now, everytime I see a new fruit I have to give it a try and it is a must-do for me to germinate the seeds.As I mentioned the german supermarkets, I live in germany. So I have to deal with cold winters and the conditions are not the best ones. But I always try to put as much effort in my plants as my grandfather does. And I have to say that my effort is working out well, my plants are thankful and happy and this makes me happy.So this is why I think I'm a good candidate, I may not have the best growing conditions or the highest yield on my plants, but growing plants is my passion and everything I do is doing it with much effort and love. And I have to thank my grandfather for ewaking my interest in plants.

Oh I'm very sorry Adam. Next time I better read more carefully. But thanks for your kind offer. I'm sure that I will order from your website within the next weeks. First I have to make sure that the temperature ist constantly above 5°C. Regards, Sven

Oh I'm very sorry Adam. Next time I better read more carefully. But thanks for your kind offer. I'm sure that I will order from your website within the next weeks. First I have to make sure that the temperature ist constantly above 5°C. Regards, Sven

please don't apologize!

it actually helped me when you posted your story.

it was a great story, and it serves as an example, so other members who are ineligible to enter the contest don't make the same mistake.

O.K., I'll de-lurk. (Just under the contest-deadline wire ... but, I suspect, if there is but one contestant, the deadline may need to be extended, which would be fine.)

Like Svennagel, I've been fascinated by plants since I was a small child. I wonder whether most members of this community share that history! (If my mother really feels like embarrassing me, she can start reminiscing about how I knew the names of all the flowers by the time I was eight ... I guess it could be worse.)

I live in an area where we can get some significant freezes, so, to be honest, I think it is safer to keep the "backbone" of the garden in temperate deciduous fruits and relatively hardy subtropicals (citrus, feijoa, white sapote, etc.). Also, I hate to lose plants during cold-snaps ... it makes me feel so guilty. (Of plant-abuse, that is ... good thing there are no vegetable prosecutors, or I might be in San Quentin right now...)

However, my interest in attempting marginal tropicals/subtropicals has been re-kindled recently, partially under the influence of two HARDCORE local fellow enthusiasts, both of whom sometimes post here. (Both of whom have also shared many nice plants with me.)

The development in tropical fruit that I am observing with most interest: Tim Thompson's mangoes! Yes, I know what the "regulars" here think about his project, and I have my own doubts, but it would be nice to see the skeptics surprised. (I like to grow things for my dad. He is from India. Can you guess what his favorite fruit might be? You get only one guess, but that should be enough.)

Why I would be a good candidate: Because ... uh ... I have tiger blood? No, scratch that, that's already dated, like talking about The Macarena. O.K., the real reason is because I would, in due course, share scionwood, etc., with friends in Bay Area rare fruit circles.

(If I have exceeded the word-limit, I throw myself upon the mercy of the court.)

Hello, my name is Steve and I have been enjoying this forum for about a year as a guest lurker so I appreciate Adam’s generous offer as incentive for those like me to join. I live in East Orlando on Lake Conway in a great little city called Belle Isle. Due to the chain of lakes that surround my location we enjoy a margin of higher temperatures during cold spells. I have lived in Florida for about fifty years and my family has almost always had fruit trees, mostly citrus. I was exposed to gardening from my mother and grandparents and I developed an interest in growing plants in my teens. Throughout my life I have dabbled in gardening based on time allowances provided by career and living location. I also have always enjoyed tropical locations such as the Florida Keys due to their lush tropical plants and have a bunch of plumerias in my yard. I also have an interest in eating healthy and the benefits provided by certain fruits. About seven years ago I bought an avocado tree, planted it and last year enjoyed my my first crop. I came across this forum from the link on Carlos’s MyAvocadoTree website as I researched various avocado varieties in an interest to graft and grow more avocado trees. The forum has expanded my interest to mango trees and additional tropical fruits. I have recently successfully grafted about five avocado seedlings from budwood from my tree and neighbors trees based on information from this forum and Carlos’s website/videos. Today to celebrate the first day of Spring, I coached my nine year old daughter on doing her own avocado graft as I try to instill in her an interest in gardening and healthy eating.

I feel I am a good candidate for this contest due to owning a home/yard that is well suited for tropical fruits and my passion towards expanding my tropical fruit knowledge, growing abilities and fruit diversity.

Ha, I'm glad to see that there will be a horse-race ... of sorts. Steve, you have a great story and it would be a pleasure to lose to you! (I wish I had started to learn how to graft at age nine ... if I had, I could probably work miracles today.)

Thank you Ashok, your story is great and nice humor as well. Looks like we will have a fun West Coast vs. East Coast contest which will be fun. I thank Adam for his interest in getting lurkers to engage and and contribute to what is already a great resource for those who desire to expand their tropical fruit interest. Now as a test I will try to add a picture of one of my recent grafts.

We appreciate your game!I am a Chinese, I'm sorry, I do not speak English, but I like foreign fruit, very appealing to me!Do not understand the syntax, I do not know how to speak ~Thank you! I hope we learn together!